Also there's a "knowing only enough to be dangerous" element in concert with false authority. Bankman-Fried had a successful background as a trader and knew crypto well. That doesn't mean he knew anything about how to run an exchange. The stuff he was prohibited from doing as a trader was handled by other people. He thought "crypto" replaced those controls just by being crypto.
The individual CEO overestimating his magisterium is common. The fact that people invested in that CEO without asking if he was working outside his knowledge is more the area where I don't think "VCs are used to losses" is an excuse. Yes they're used to CEOs that overpromise, but they could at least ask, "And who in this organization is holding the CEO accountable?"
A bunch of other VCs invested, but several investors were also willing to sign up for the Twitter buyout via tweet, yes? Maybe this level of due diligence became normal during the boom.... at any rate, I don't worry about VCs. They'll answer to limited partners, who might be fine with some blow-ups as long as the fund overall comes out ahead.
(To add: I'd be more worried if their investment had been the deciding factor in FTX's ability to exist *and* FTX's collapse had caused massive systemic risk flooding into the traditional financial system. But the collapse was contained within crypto, pending resolution of the Genesis Global Capital troubles.)
Each time the latest white collar scheme of fraud emerges, I am disgusted. The system of penalties is so distorted. The risk-reward is built to ensure these things will continue to happen without anything standing in the way. Having worked with the blockchain 20+ years ago to good effect, it is sad to see it utilized to distort transparency. The rewards for fraud are SO HIGH and the penalties SO SMALL. No matter where the next fraud emerges, we throw up our hands and say oh well, lets figure out how to try to identify this stuff better next time.
Yes.
Also there's a "knowing only enough to be dangerous" element in concert with false authority. Bankman-Fried had a successful background as a trader and knew crypto well. That doesn't mean he knew anything about how to run an exchange. The stuff he was prohibited from doing as a trader was handled by other people. He thought "crypto" replaced those controls just by being crypto.
The individual CEO overestimating his magisterium is common. The fact that people invested in that CEO without asking if he was working outside his knowledge is more the area where I don't think "VCs are used to losses" is an excuse. Yes they're used to CEOs that overpromise, but they could at least ask, "And who in this organization is holding the CEO accountable?"
Yeah. An interesting point is that one VC recommended forming a board for FTX and was emphatically rebuffed: https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/15/23459268/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-bankruptcy-crypto-lobbying-washington
A bunch of other VCs invested, but several investors were also willing to sign up for the Twitter buyout via tweet, yes? Maybe this level of due diligence became normal during the boom.... at any rate, I don't worry about VCs. They'll answer to limited partners, who might be fine with some blow-ups as long as the fund overall comes out ahead.
(To add: I'd be more worried if their investment had been the deciding factor in FTX's ability to exist *and* FTX's collapse had caused massive systemic risk flooding into the traditional financial system. But the collapse was contained within crypto, pending resolution of the Genesis Global Capital troubles.)
Each time the latest white collar scheme of fraud emerges, I am disgusted. The system of penalties is so distorted. The risk-reward is built to ensure these things will continue to happen without anything standing in the way. Having worked with the blockchain 20+ years ago to good effect, it is sad to see it utilized to distort transparency. The rewards for fraud are SO HIGH and the penalties SO SMALL. No matter where the next fraud emerges, we throw up our hands and say oh well, lets figure out how to try to identify this stuff better next time.